Ontario’s top court upholds musician Jacob Hoggard’s sexual assault conviction | CBC News
[ad_1]
Ontario’s top court has upheld the sexual assault conviction of Canadian musician Jacob Hoggard, the former frontman for the band Hedley.
Hoggard was found guilty in June 2022 of sexual assault causing bodily harm against an Ottawa woman and later sentenced to five years behind bars.
He was released on bail hours later, pending his appeal.
The woman told CBC News via text message Friday that she was thankful the appeal was dismissed and is “relieved that after almost nine years this is FINALLY over.”
Hoggard’s lawyers confirmed he has now started to serve his sentence.
“His first night in jail after two years of appealing,” the woman told CBC News. “I won.”
Court documents show Hoggard’s lawyers appealed the conviction on four grounds, including that the trial judge erred by admitting the evidence of Lori Haskell, a clinical psychologist, on the neurobiology of trauma.
They also argued the trial judge wrongly permitted prosecutors to argue that the expert’s evidence supported the credibility of the woman Hoggard was found to have sexually assaulted.
In a unanimous decision released on Friday, the appeal court found no substantial wrong or miscarriage of justice occurred at trial, and dismissed the appeal.
In a statement, Hoggard’s lawyers said they were disappointed by the judgment.
“While we maintain that Mr. Hoggard’s trial was unfair, we respect the court’s decision,” the statement read.
The lawyers said they will review the judgment to consider their next steps.
